Leaderboard

Well lookie what landed today! So... this is a Limelight Precision, with a '67 spec in a light-relic LPB finish. I ordered it last year, and had a good chat with the - extremely pleasant - Mark at Limelight to discuss the spec and the level of relic'ing. I wanted the finish to be a little more muted, so it glows a bit more, and he's obliged. It's a nice weight, less than 9lbs, helped by the Gotoh Res-o-Lites, which bumped the cost up a little more. I've just put proper strings on it (it came with fairly light rounds), and it sounds just like I'd hoped. A really nice P... and it cost significantly less than a Fender Roadworn MIM. I'm about to start a solid week of rehearsals, so lots of time to give it a run out. Happy days!

Doesn't matter what you're making. I'd follow the thread if you were building a sideboard.

Looking at the subject heading I was expecting a discussion about Jack Klugman! Anyone for a subdural haematoma?

The dude is 84 and claims to have ten movies, six albums, four Broadway shows and a number of other projects on the horizon! Hardly someone who’s no longer relevant and has it ‘all behind him’. The thing is that he has had a pop at a few sacred cows (Macca, Jackson, Prince et al), which has upset a few people when their heroes are being dissed by someone of his undoubted pedigree.

I remember being in talks with my folks about the possibility of getting some kind of instrument, and then seeing this ad in some magazine and thinking..wow. I just found it online and it's one of those things that makes you go right back in time. I was 13 or so, going back and forward deciding between guitars and bass as my final request, sure that one of these would be mine. We ended up going to a shop and I got an Encore P-Bass (which was actually great). Here's to joint Christmas and birthday presents.

Here are my two new working basses. I had kind of given up playing in bands after doing it for around 25 years and had sold all my working basses but then an opportunity came up to join my friends band. They are a very busy, popular club band playing stuff from the 50s and 60s so I was in need of a couple of working basses. I've gone from doing zero gigs to about 60 a year. The first is a Fender Jazz American Vintage 75 Reissue and the second is a Fender Precision FSR 70's Reissue. Both are amazing to play and I love how they look similar.

Had to add to this thread. After using the new site and got used to it, how did we survive before? The look, feel, facilities, notifications are just brilliant. Also much more responsive, which may be due to the server shift. Well done peeps. Cheers Geoff

Cracking looking bass. I have one of the newer bolt on Arpeges but I think the old through neck models are truly state of the art and more unique looking. For anyone else looking to get on the Vigier bandwagon there is a rather tasty Excess on sale at Guitar Guitar. Price seems reasonable considering the quality of the bass. I have had an Excess since 2004 and it is still going strong. https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px180127321592006--vigier-excess-1996-dark-red-burst-pre-owned

I'e now received l the hardware I need - just need to finish shaping and sanding the neck (cutting headstock and getting the tuner holes ready, and "rolling" the fingerboard edges for a played-in feel), then spray the nitrocellulose lacquer. It'l take a few weeks to properly settle, and then I can final sand and buff it.

Well last night reinforced my opinion of Paul Gray. Him being back has lifted the whole band. He is just plain awesome! Apologies to the "camera at gigs" haters. but I was at the front and kept it at chest height. :-p

Better to simplify the part and devise something that is musically correct that works in a band context than to play the "right notes but not necessarily in the right order". You can always work on getting closer to the original as time goes by.

Forgot to post on this thread the link to my blog entry about the lefty Dingwall! It's here: https://goo.gl/YaqoHB

After seeing The Damned last night, with Paul Gray back on bass, I have developed gas for a big valve amp and a Ric...

It's both. You can assign it to one or both and it'll do a load of other stuff too like assigning variable drive levels on amps or distortion pedals etc. Ive had my LT for a few weeks now and barely scratched the surface of what it can do - basically, if you can think of it, it’ll probably be able to do it.

First gig of 2018. We shlepped down to Birmingham for an 'originals only' night at a folk-club. I wasn't too hopeful. The usual mix of singer-songwriters, us and one other band (who most of the audience seemed to be there for). The promoter then swapped the running order so we had to headline to a crowd who had literally no idea what we sounded like and by the time we went on (very late and with no soundcheck) I was practically asleep. Despite all of this (and some awful level and feedback problems during the first two songs), we totally slayed and the crowd loved it. One of the loudest and most enthusiastic responses we've ever had. Apparently we totally rock. I just wish they could have heard us bring our A game. I'm starting to think that this type of audience - older, folkies - might be worth targeting. I'd assumed the thrash metal aspect of what we do wold be off-putting but apparently if you do it on a cajon and a violin, it's fine!

He needs to get out more if he thinks Paul McCartney is the worst bass player in the world. Come round mine for starters!

And this speaks a lot about the thread's topic. MB gear may not be seen with the same eyes as some years ago but there's still a lot of market for them. They didn't got worse with time, other things were designed in the meantime and now there's a bit more choice for everybody.

Here's one for all the old punks out there. JJ Burnel of The Stranglers was the reason i first picked up a bass guitar. My personal all time favourite bass guitar album would have to be Black & White. For me, bass players back in the day did stuff you just don't hear anymore, unless you come round my house that is. :-) To name but a few: Barry Adamson, JJ Burnel, Bruce Foxton, Lee Gorman, Steve Hanley, Peter Hook, David Jay, Segs Jennings, Lemmy, Stuart Morrow, Tracy Pew, Paul Raven, Steve Severin, Algy Ward, Jah Wobble, Youth. Anyone care to add to the list? I reckon the whole "post-punk" era in particular was a great time for bass players. Killing Joke, Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Cure, Joy Division, Sisters Of Mercy, Theatre Of Hate etc. Songs that were obviously written around strong bass riffs, always loud in the mix. Anyone's else's first bass line Love Song, Public Image, Peaches or Warhead? Cheers, Jake M

I looked this up once. I think IHiwatt in the early days and Acoustic through the later 70s and 80s.

I like this upper horn shape a lot better than the previous one. Didn't want to tell you before but I felt the old horn somehow looked wrong to me and in the end it's your design.

After all that the shop didnt have one in stock. So after big consideration ive ordered a spectracomp. I like the idea of the one knob so i dont mess my settings up, and the amount of toneprints available. Should receive it on monday.

I learned to double thumb a few years ago. I was thrilled. Never used it again.

My first fretless was a Yamaha RBX270F which I picked up for £80. I ended up keeping it for several years as it was a really good bass to learn on. Yamaha make pretty solid basses in most of the price categories and quality seems to be very consistent too. Definitely worth a look if you can find one.

If this bass is brand new, Ollie, why don't you take/send it back and make this the problem of the folk who sold it to you? It's crazy if you're having to buy new bridges and otherwise throw money and the bass, simply to make it do what it should do already straight out of the box.

Are you familiar with all the gestures on iOS? Swipe up twice from the bottom and you get your play/pause control right there. Or swipe up once, then drag your music player on screen and you have it in a mini floating window, which you can dismiss by swiping it to the side, and bring it back by swiping in from the edge. Also you can swipe with 4 fingers left or right to quickly switch apps.

This bass was rated 5 star best buy by total guitar Summer 2004...they said For: Flawless construction; stunning looks; tone to die for Against: all that sleep that you're gonna lose waiting for it to arrive Also its a dream to play imo

Bin it, sounds more than a little dodgy.

Thanks Baz for speedy payment and great comms. A pleasure to deal with.

A friend of mine swears by his Harley Benton JB-40FL. It's a solid bit of kit and if pressed he'll admit he preferred his Overwater but it was sold years ago The newer models comply with CITES regs so no rosewood board and the Wilkinson pickups have been dropped for Roswell. £140 and no quibble return policy makes it worth thinking about. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm

My experience of that song is drummers quite often play it oddly, mainly in the verses...so be prepared to make adjustments! If you don't have a keyboardist and you fancy a wee tapping solo, check out Billy Sheehan on Mr bigs cover. Simple major and minor arpeggios. Pretty much 2 shapes in different positions. Stick a wee boost on and voila, instant keyboard solo done on bass!

None at all! I change the screen mode so that it shows the 8 rectangles that label the 8 buttons (You can name them to what ever you want).

Well, it looks like you got the first part sorted

It’s worth noting that soapbars simply refers to the casing, not what is inside. Generally speaking, you can find any pickup config in soapbar format, single cool, dual coul, humbucker etc etc. So actually, your setup is much more versatile with what you can test than anything else. I wager that there’s plenty of mid-priced or 2nd hand eBay alternatives to the big names too. You might even find that some pickup companies might fit whatever format you want in the cases you already have. Si

Just recorded a quick noodle...sounds a lot like a P Bass! And loving the neo pickup, it has a little growl when pushed! I like the Fender flats too, but I can't help but think I'd prefer La Bellas. Only one way to find out, I suppose... Listen loud with headphones, decent monitors, yadda yadda.

I'm not so sure about that , when I record myself , I always feel like I underperform, I just don't get with the click it doesn't feel natural . When I am stood standing beside my drummer who is doing his stuff I just seem to gel a million times better . The recording of gigs we've done are not great sound wise , but where I can be heard we are quite tight , and we have had positive feedback on that basis . Note fuckups are occasionally still there, but I forgive myself those if I am listening for a tempo I am struggling , if I feel the tempo I am grooving

Years and years back when I had just started playing I had to miss a gig as I was out in the outer Hebrides, the band got some guy in to dep and we sit down to teach him the songs and he's all double thumb slapping. I was intimidated. Then we got to a song where over a Cmaj chord I was playing a C# in the bass - and he just couldn't get it - he mentally couldn't understand why we would have chosen to play a "wrong" note. I suddenly wasn't intimidated

Clearly took a lot of work to get to the stage where these guys are this fluent with technique. Personally I'd love to be able to play like this. Maybe not use it in a whole song but would make some great fills. IMO anybody pushing the boundaries of playing needs to be acknowledged.

As a very general rule, I usually advise going up one 'gauge' for every half a step down tuned in order to maintain a similar feel and tension. Of course the 'perceived' tension may increase or decrease based on string thickness and how it feels under your fingers, but you can just about nail the actual, measurable tension. Unless I've missed it, you don't say which gauge of string you are currently using that starts to feel a little loose. I'll use as an example EXL170 on a 34 inch scale length. Tuned to standard tuning: 1 G 2 0.0450 in. 42.52 lbs 2 D 2 0.0650 in. 47.89 lbs 3 A 1 0.0800 in. 39.59 lbs 4 E 1 0.1000 in. 34.07 lbs EXL170 tuned down a half step Gauge Tension 0.0450 in. 37.88 lbs 0.0650 in. 42.67 lbs 0.0800 in. 35.27 lbs 0.1000 in. 30.35 lbs So around a 5lb loss in tension, which is very noticeable. In order to retain the same feel as EXL170 tuned half a step flat, these are the gauges the system reccommends: Gauge Tension 0.0480 in. 42.84 lbs 0.0700 in. 49.01 lbs 0.0850 in. 39.96 lbs 0.1060 in. 34.16 lb Even using single strings (which you can buy) we don't actually make a gauge 106 or 48, so you are never going to get the exact same feel, using our strings at least. It's usually best to round up slightly so using single strings you could make a set of: 50 - 70 - 85 - 107 Of course buying single strings to make custom sets can get a little pricey. So, if you want to by a predetermined set you have to compromise a little. The compromise is only slight if you get the EXL160 set which consists of gauges: 50 - 70 - 85 - 105. These will feel very similar to the EXL170 and won't take much adjusting to. If you let me know the set of strings you are using I don't mind repeating the exercise to work out the best set for you -- Adam.

I bought a pedal from Bas and he packaged it up and sent it out very quickly indeed. Communication was very fast and friendly. Highly recommended!

Just bought an Aguilar Filter Twin from Bas. We struck up quite a conversation on PM and I can only echo the views of my peers; Bas is one of those folks that makes buying and selling on here such a pleasure. He kept me informed throughout, even sending me a picture of the packaged item ready for dispatch. Thanks Bas , it’s been a pleasure.

I really like seeing "novice" players at the show. I think it's actually pretty annoying to see and hear fast showy players all day. I don't wanna hear a gazillion notes on a fancy bass all day. I want to hear how a bass sounds if you play bass on it.

Just got back from meeting with Bas to sell my Ibby. The man was super nice and we had a great time trying out amps and basses in the mean time. I would highly recommend buying or selling anything to this man! Cheers mate

Fast, easy transaction for an Aguilar Compressor pedal. Buy with confidence! Great comms!!!